Lisboa is almost free living!

Where do I start? Lisbon was everything my friends and I hyped it up to be, if not more. We were fortunate enough to stay in a "party hostel," a business that I did not know existed. Our hostel is called the G-Spot (mom & dad, don't ask), like I mentioned it's a party hostel, which means really cheap per night, drinks are 1 euro, all you can eat pancake breakfast, dinner for 5euros with free wine, free pub crawl (1 euro shots), free entrance to the club, free beerpong and countless discounts around town (i.e free beer with the purchase of a burger, free walking tour etc.) At one point I started calling the city FREEboa cuz everything was incredibly cheap. There were tourist from all over the world at our hostel, which made for plenty of conversation. If you want more information, come see me cuz I don't want to incriminate myself.

Now, the city is beautiful. The first thing I noticed was the street art (huge fan); there were several pieces from "Os Gemeos," two famous brazilian twins that recently painted a controversial mural in Boston. The architecture is very european, plenty of cobblestone and memorial statues. The people are great, better than spanish people in my opinion. I got a chance to practice the little portuguese I know but it also motivated me to become fluent. The women are gorgeous of course, love the diversity unlike Madrid. We came across two Swedish guys that have been living in Lisbon for 3 years so they showed us around the infamous 7 hills; Bairro Arriva was amazing, simply hundreds of young people looking to party. Can't forget about the beach either: even though the water is really cold (damn Atlantic), it's incredibly beautiful and the waves make me regret the fact that I don't know how to surf.

All in all, would I recommend it to a friend? Yes.
Would I come back? Hell Yeah!

 Posted up in Lisbon

 If it doesn't work, mind a well turn it into art

 1/7 hills

 Sun is hot a hellll

PappaG n I breaking the law 

 Praia Carcavelos

Yeen..

Barça!

I believe Catalunya as a whole is a different world within Spain. Barcelona has an incredible amount of history and culture but after being there for only 3 days, I can see why some people want to separate themselves from the rest of Spain. They sell history, culture and vibe, which is nothing compared to Madrid or Galicia (the two places I've spent the most time). Our hotel was located in the center of the city so it was very easy to get to touristy places (i.e cool architecture and tapas) where things are popping!

The nightlife is also incredibly different compared to Madrid. I was fortunate enough to have friends that are studying abroad close to Barcelona and they came out to hang out Saturday night. They know the secret authentic places to go and they showed me around. By authentic I mean I they took me to the most Dominican bar/club I've ever been to in this country. I literally felt like I was either in DR or in a club in NYC. This place was in a small neighborhood and everyone in there was Dominican or Latin-American and the music was straight Merengue, Bachata, Salsa and Dembow....it doesn't get more Dominican than that. I had plenty to drink that night so it may have amplified the experience. 

All in all, Barça is an splendid place with rich history and very interesting atmosphere. Weather was unbelievably wonderful; cannot complain. I would recommended it 100%. Check some pics below.

 Yami & I overlooking the city

 Bro-ing out at lunch

 baRcelona

 Casa Batlló (by Gaudi)

 Outside La Sagrada Familia

Under Construction for 140yrs...

 Inside La Sagrada Familia

 Oh sweet Jesus

Olé Toro!

The festivities continue. There was no way that I was going to leave this country and not sit through a bullfight. Since the season was coming to an end, I decided to take advantage and just go. I rounded up the troops and we went to the stadium, bypassed all the stupid expensive offers for foreigners, and set in on a fight. According to a "Bull medic" sitting behind us, we are quite lucky to even be sitting where we were. Apparently the section we were in is where you can catch the most action and we are lucky that Real Madrid and the Athletico de Madrid are both playing tonight to people went to that and those seats were available. It was truly a cultural experience. Despite the blood and the hits, it was a very comfortable and enjoyable place to be in. I would recommend it 100%. Check out the pictures below:

 Las Ventas Stadium

Olé

AND....DEAD!

Night view

Holy Toledo

Plenty has happened since Mallorca. I've started my work-study job and my volunteer work as part of my internship class. However, the best news I got all week was a post-grad job offer from State Street. So, what did I do? Celebrate of course. Last night was a rainy day but that didn't stop the fellas and I from going out and having a few buckets. Another celebratory yet exploratory thing we did was to take a trip outside of Madrid and visit Toledo for the day.

Only a 50 minute bus ride away, the fellas and I got up early (11am..haha) and took off. It's incredible rural is gets once you get out of the city yet it is one of the most beautiful sightings ever. Apparently Toledo is a fortress town and we climbed up the vibrant cobblestone streets and simply explored. Most of us had bocadillos from our host moms so we posted up in the main plaza, had a bite to eat (plus a tallboy) and enjoyed the ambiance like typical americans. For the rest of the time we simply got lost among the narrow streets and tourists and checked out their cathedral among other old establishments. All in all, it was refreshing and enjoyable experience; it was good to get out of the city and see something different. Check out a few pics below.

 Toledo

Album cover!

BROvantes

Literary boss

Crazy view

Thank you camera timer

Mallorca: Sleep, Beach, Eat...Beach

In my first opportunity to really celebrate my birthday and travel outside the iberian peninsula, friends from the group and I decided to take a trip to Mallorca. If you didn't know, it's one of the Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of Spain in the Mediterranean.....yeap, I said the mediterranean. I swam in it, no big deal.

It was the most relaxing time I've had in years. We stayed at Hostel Atlanta, which was only 2 blocks away from the beach. We were fortunate that one of the girls' rooms had a balcony so we hung out there during the night (pre gaming) then we would go to Palmas (the capital of Mallorca) and danced our feet away at Tito's nightclub. This was an expensive place to dance in but when you have 10-12  girls with you that are eager to dance...you gotta do it; I call it paying for the "experience." Anyway, after a long night of dancing, drinking and taxi rides one deserves to spend all day at the beach. That is exactly what we did. Camped our behinds out on the sand, get some sun and take a dip in the water. What more can one ask for on the weekend after his 21st birthday? Nothing! It was an incredibly fun experience with an incredibly fun group of young people. Check out a few pics from the trip; More coming soon.

 Andres, Brand, PappaG n me

 The Bogler n I

 Buckets on Buckets

 Yeap...that's the beach view

Loner Swag

"Tío Pedro" from the group Los Chichos

Real Madrid Vs. Manchester City

I've never been a huge soccer fan but I've always been a sports fan so I know enough about soccer to know that this was going to be a good game. To watch Real Madrid, more importantly Cristiano Ronaldo, was definitely on my bucket list and I've now checked it off.
This was by far the most exciting sports game I've ever been to. Man City scored the first goal in the second half but Marcelo made a sick goal to tie the game. However, Man City came back and scored another goal a few mins after that leaving about 5 mins left on the clock. Real Madrid fans started to leave the stadium at that point and I yelled out: "Believe in your team" and a minute later they scored to tie the game BUT right before the 90min mark they scored AGAIN....by who? you guessed it: CRISTIANO RONALDO strikes in heroic fashion! I could have died after that, my life seemed complete. haha. Check out some pics below.

Here's the link to the highlights: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1163521/late-ronaldo-goal-stuns-city-in-five-goal-thriller?cc=5739

 Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

 Nico, Brand, Andres, PappaG n myself

 PappaG at his best

 Ronaldo with the crossover

 Incredible seats

Vuvuzelas are the most annoying things on earth

Ronaldo_Game_Winning_Goal.gif

Happy Birthday to me!

I've been waiting 21 years so say this but world, here is your newest edition to the 21 club! I truly feel blessed to be this old and be able to look back at the things that I've done but also at the things that I have yet to do. I'd like to thank my momma for bringing me to this earth, my father for being a mentor and my grandmother for raising me into the person that I am today. I couldn't be more happy with the things that God has thrown my way; Looking forward to 21 more years! 

As I've said in previous posts, I'm going to celebrate in the island Palmas de Mallorca (google it, it's beautiful) from Thursday-Saturday so I'll come back with crazy pictures. For now, here is a picture of a stud when he was about 5-6. cmon!

What a stud!